While it seemed unlikely, there was always the chance, however remote, that a battle of patents between Microsoft and Motorola could have seen the Xbox 360 taken off store shelves.

A US judge, however, has ruled that this won't be happening.

The two companies have been fighting for years, with Motorola saying the Xbox 360 infringes upon five patents it holds, mostly related to video codecs.

Saying that the technology was " critical to industry standards", and that Microsoft had agreed to pay for their use (the battle was over how much Microsoft should be paying), Judge James Robart said any financial dispute could be settled at the end of the pair's case, with no Xbox 360 ban necessary.